DALLAS: Jason Garrett will give up his play-calling duties to new offensive coordinator Bill Callahan this year. That should mean more work for the running game after a year in which the Cowboys were the second-most pass-heavy team in football (66.2 percent). Callahan is an O-Line guru who has built a quality zone-blocking scheme in Dallas. DeMarco Murray will continue to take a true No. 1 workload, with a battle for carries behind him. Rookie Joseph Randle fits the system and should be the long-term No. 2, though either scat back Lance Dunbar or big back Phillip Tanner could hold the job early.
Garrett runs an aggressive Air Coryell passing game, though it figures to be reigned in a bit after last year's pass-heavy play-calling. The Cowboys use a lot of two-back base looks, though later in the year they might start using Miles Austin in the slot and Terrence Williams outside. Dez Bryant is now the clear-cut No. 1 option on most plays, getting the ball any time he's in single coverage on the outside. Romo often comes back to TE Jason Witten, heavily used as an intermediate-to-short target. Austin does more catch-and-run work over the middle and will stretch the seam. Garrett is willing to keep it on the ground in the red zone, with Murray the primary goal line back.
Dallas will switch to a 4-3 under new defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin and D-Line coach Rod Marinelli, the DC for Chicago's amazing 44-turnover defense last year. This will hopefully increase the team's paltry 16 takeaways as DeMarcus Ware (111 career sacks) shifts to DE, Sean Lee mans the MLB spot and Bruce Carter explodes from the WLB position. The Cowboys also inked two new starters via free agency, SLB Justin Durant and FS Will Allen. Young CBs Morris Claiborne and Brandon Carr are both developing nicely.

KANSAS CITY: New head coach Andy Reid will bring his West Coast offense to K.C., but unlike in Philly, his personnel with the Chiefs will force a more run-heavy approach. Jamaal Charles will be the focal point of the offense, as the Chiefs will incorporate a lot of zone blocking and stretch plays outside the tackles. They'll also use a lot of shotgun and spread formations to create space for Charles. Reid rode LeSean McCoy hard in Philly, and Charles is looking at a similarly huge workload. Rookie Knile Davis is coming off a rough season at Arkansas, but could emerge as the thunder in the Chiefs' backfield.
Reid and new offensive coordinator Doug Pederson, most recently his QB coach with the Eagles, will run a classic West Coast offense. Alex Smith will work off play-action a lot and they'll move the pocket around for him. Dwayne Bowe will spend most of his time at flanker as the No. 1 receiver in this offense, with Donnie Avery stretching the field as a split end. The Chiefs are built for a lot of two-tight end sets, with Anthony Fasano in-line and more likely to stay in and block, and rookie Travis Kelce as the pass-catching H-back. Reid has talked up Dexter McCluster, but he figures to be only a part-time weapon. In the red zone, Smith will likely be put on a lot of sprint-outs on what are run-pass options.
No team forced fewer turnovers (13) than the Chiefs last year, who had just four takeaways over the final eight games. New defensive coordinator Bob Sutton will try to mix things up with his 3-4 base that provides multiple looks and will blitz more than last year. The Chiefs had only five sacks coming from their defensive line in 2012, but OLBs Justin Houston and Tamba Hali combined for 19 sacks. The team added free agent CBs Dunta Robinson and Sean Smith to give the front seven more time to apply the pressure.

With a season-opening victory, Andy Reid has solidified the optimism that surrounded his hire as coach of the Kansas City Chiefs earlier this year.

Now they'll try to build on it against a team Reid knows well from his days in the NFC East.

Reid makes his home debut in Kansas City on Sunday as the Chiefs look to match their win total from last season against a Dallas Cowboys team that boasts an opportunistic defense and a pair of banged-up stars.

Kansas City's 28-2 road rout of lowly Jacksonville last Sunday was the franchise's most-lopsided season-opening victory since it beat Denver 59-7 in 1963, and quickly helped a hungry fan base forget about last season's 2-14 debacle.

"There's a lot of emphasis put on the first game within the league," Reid said. "I keep in perspective that it's one out of 16 games and hopefully more that you have an opportunity to play, so I understand that.

"On the other hand, I'll tell you that you work your tail off to win every game, and that's what you do. So every victory you get, you're going to cherish and enjoy it."

Alex Smith was 21 of 34 for 173 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions in his Kansas City debut, and Jamaal Charles ran for 77 yards and a TD before leaving with a quad injury. Justin Houston recorded three of the team's six sacks and Tamba Hali returned an interception for a touchdown as the Chiefs scored more points than in any game last season.

"There are some things we need to work on as a team, but getting this win raises the morale for us," receiver Junior Hemingway said. "It'll help tremendously going into next week."

Reid believes looking forward is all that matters.

"It was neat to see the offense and the defense and the coaches, they were very excited," Reid said. "We also know that we enjoyed it and now we're moving on."

One immediate concern is the uncertain status of Charles, who rushed for a career-high 1,509 yards while playing all 16 games in 2012.

"He does have range of motion," Reid said. "We'll just see how he does over this week."

Including the playoffs, Reid went 17-12 against the Cowboys during his 14 seasons coaching the Eagles. Following Sunday's game, the Chiefs have a quick turnaround before Reid's homecoming in Philadelphia on Thursday night.

Kansas City certainly won't be looking ahead after Dallas forced six turnovers while holding on for a 36-31 win over the New York Giants in Week 1.

Guided by 73-year-old defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin and line coach Rod Marinelli, Dallas intercepted Eli Manning three times - taking one back for a TD - and returned one of David Wilson's two fumbles for a score. The Cowboys also recovered a live ball that glanced off a Giant on a punt.

Dallas forced only 16 turnovers while going 8-8 last season.

"I think six was a lot, but we've been thinking about it," linebacker Sean Lee said. "We've been working at it non-stop."

Dallas, though, yielded 478 total yards - all but 50 in the air - and allowed the Giants to hang around despite all their mistakes.

"We have a lot of room to improve defensively," Lee added. "We gave up a lot of yards. We have to improve that."

Offensively, DeMarco Murray had 125 total yards and Jason Witten made eight catches for 70 with two TDs to become the third tight end in NFL history with 9,000 yards receiving.

Tony Romo was 36 of 49 for 263 yards with those two TDs and an interception. He also avoided a serious injury despite taking a shot to the ribs.

Receiver Dez Bryant was targeted eight times but caught just four passes for 22 yards while dealing with a mild foot sprain that is unlikely to keep him out of this contest.

Dallas has won two straight against the Chiefs, most recently 26-20 at Kansas City in 2009.

Romo was 20 of 34 for 351 yards with two TDs in that contest. He completed 10 and both scores to Miles Austin, who posted a career-high 250 receiving yards.